Although its fall run at Lincoln Center Theater's Mitzi E. Newhouse ends Dec. 29, A Man of No Importance, remains important to the composer, Stephen Flaherty.

The Dublin-set show is special to Ragtime and Seussical composer Flaherty for a lot of reasons, not least of which is his Irish-Catholic roots.

When Ragtime librettist Terrence McNally asked the composer what he wanted to write, the answer was: Something Irish.

"I've always wanted to write an Irish piece," Flaherty told Playbill On-Line for the Dec. 10-16 Brief Encounter interview. "After Ragtime, I didn't want to do an historical drama. I'm not interested in doing the Potato Famine musical. And I am Irish Catholic. [Terrence] chewed on it and came back a couple of weeks later and he had rented the video of 'Man of No Importance.' I wasn't sure how the music would come out of such a naturalistic story."

In addition to talking about the process of creating A Man of No Importance with McNally and lyricist Lynn Ahrens, Flaherty discussed his in-progress new musicals, based on the books "Dessa Rose" and "The Glorious Ones." Click here to view the Stephen Flaherty Brief Encounter.

— By Kenneth Jones